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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28816068">Make a Wish</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsonata/pseuds/rainsonata'>rainsonata</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Elsword (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2016-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2016-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:20:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28816068</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsonata/pseuds/rainsonata</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Add spends his sixteenth birthday in the nasod library.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Make a Wish</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted on tumblr.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Books were piled on the sole table of the library into an impossible stack that threatened to tumble down.  Torn pages littered the floor, still fresh with the ink of unintelligible writing and equations.  </p><p>The books themselves seemed to glow when opened, its contents in a language that could only be understood by few.  Pale blue light filled the room, revealing numerous bookshelves that covered every inch of the wall with only a narrow door to interrupt the seemingly endless line of books.  The room was circular with no light source from the outside.  </p><p>Add had his face buried in a book when a soft ping echoed through the silent room.  He checked to see one of his dynamos tapping him lightly on the shoulder with the word UPDATE flashing as it conjured a holographic screen for him to start the scan.  There were still a few things he wanted to analyze before implementing them in the dynamos.  </p><p>The dynamos were designed to reduce his workload, helping him carry the latest stack of books back to their shelves or stopping him from falling off the many ladders.  Even with these innovations however, Add found himself growing bored.  Although he enjoyed reading the books the library offered, there was a limit to how many times he was willing to reread nasod fundamentals.  Sure, his dynamos could help him with mundane tasks, but what if he made them more useful for other things?  If he was to get back to the real world, being defenseless would be less than appealing.      </p><p>A new window popped up with a small beep while Add was still in the middle of scanning.  It was a notification that another day has gone by.  Although it was difficult due to the unchanging blue glow of the place, he kept track of the time he stayed in the library.  A look of recognition flashed through his magenta eyes when he read the date.  Today was supposed to be his birthday.  </p><p>He was sixteen, right?  Add narrowed his eyes in frustration. He could not recall the last time he saw his mother.  Her violent death was still etched in his mind, but how many years ago was it?  Sixteen years old sounded about right, he decided when he examined his dynamos again.         </p><p>Despite living in the library for much of his childhood, there were still things he didn’t know.  Things that he wanted, no, <em>needed</em> to know.  Why did the library appear when he was trying to run away from his pursuers?  Was it an act of mercy or a cruel punishment, isolating him from humanity?  </p><p>The most peculiar thing about the library wasn’t that it was conveniently designed to keep a human alive or that it seemed to have an alarming amount of books on an illegal topic, but that it always felt like it was moving, rotating in slow motion.  Where was the library traveling to?  What was its purpose?  </p><p>It wasn’t his first birthday at the library, but would it be the last?  It became easier to accept his fate over the years, but there were still times where he secretly hoped that today would be the last night he spent in the library.  How many more birthdays would pass before he could leave?   </p><p>“Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me…” Add sang under his breath with bitter sarcasm.  Another birthday spent in the library.  At first he was relieved to escape the life of a slave, but that sentiment was soon replaced with boredom, maybe even madness.  This year’s birthday in this dreadful place was one year too many for his preferences.    </p><p>A faded memory of a young woman in a light colored dress telling him to blow out the candles passed through his mind before Add snapped out it.  Thinking about Mother wouldn’t bring her back, but his mind would not forget the thought of eating cake again, or seeing her face again.  The nasod library may provide food, but cake certainly was not an option. He scowled at himself at the wishful thought.  Even if there was cake, it wouldn’t taste anything like the ones Mother baked.     </p><p>Add felt pathetic when he felt tears running down his cheeks.  Sixteen was supposed to be a special age for most people, wasn’t it?  And yet he was crying over cake in a library that shouldn’t have existed.</p><p>What did people do for their birthday?  There was always cake and presents, although expecting any of those was unrealistic.  His vision blurred when he recalled his mother encouraging him to make a wish before blowing out the candles on the cake.  He didn’t have cake, but perhaps he could still make a wish.           </p><p>“A birthday wish, huh?” Add laughed at the idea.  Such petty things he used to worry about as a child, when he was free from the cruel reality of this accursed world.  But still, he decided to humor himself.  What else was there to do when there was so much time to spare?  </p><p>He wished to be able to move his limbs however he wanted, to be able to walk and run as he pleased without being held back by anyone or physical obstacles.  Add craved to smell something other than the scent of old books and to be able to touch another human being.  He wanted to get out of this damned place.    </p><p>After spending his first few days in the library to make sure no one would catch him, Add discovered that the door was locked shut.  Try as he might, nothing could get the door to unlock itself, not even the blunt force of his dynamos.  However, Add was not one to give up after many failed attempts.  He did not want to spend the rest of his life in this library.  </p><p>He wiped the corner of his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt, no longer caring how gross it was.  He sniffled, trying to regain his composure.  With shaky hands, he went back to entering a long set of codes into the database with a stiff expression.  Add then grabbed a close by piece of paper to compare it to his work before expressing distaste.   Hours rolled by as Add fixated on his work until his eyes could no longer stay open, the teenager resting his head on the table beside him.  </p><hr/><p>The room was still lit up with the same blue glow when the teen opened his eyes, lying down on the floor with the pile books.  His eyelids were heavy when he tried to open them and his muscles stiff when he stretched them.</p><p>With a yawn, Add activated his dynamos from sleep mode after being idle for too long.  He frowned when he saw numbers at the corner of the screen.  Despite efforts to perfect his invention, time evaded him.  Numbers were inconsistent when he checked the year, sometimes rolling through a century within a day when he looked at the date again.  His breath grew short when the year refused to budge after a few minutes of staring at the time.       </p><p>It was hard to describe the weird sensation in his feet when he walked around.  He nearly fell over when he placed a stack of books back to their shelves.  Add gripped onto a bookshelf to stop himself, but fell on his knees because his legs were still asleep.  As he rested his head against the lines of books, he felt strange when he realized that the room was shaking.    </p><p>He looked up to see that the walls were moving, cracks starting to form when bits of the ceiling began to tumble down.  Books tumbled from their shelves and nearly landed on his head when he slid across the room.  A circular room like this would make it difficult to avoid getting injured from all sides if he didn’t leave.     </p><p>Dumb luck seemed to be the only answer to how he found or entered the place.  He spent too many years trying to open the door by activating its sensors.  Later years made Add more desperate and resorted to blunt force, but it left a few scratches at best on the door’s sturdy surface.  Those failed attempted left him angry and frustrated that his efforts were left unrewarded.  Add steadily got up on his feet once he found his strength and approached the narrow door.  Nothing would open the door, but he was in no position to hesitate.  .    </p><p>Add placed one hand on the metallic surface, biting his lips when he eyed the exit that lead to the outside.  The door had a metallic blue frame that matched the structure of the room with a power symbol placed near the top of it.  Thin wires ran down the door that connected it to the rest that circulated through the library.  There was no handle or doorknob, but it reacted to touch when Add first stumbled in.     </p><p>He nearly jumped when he heard the sound of wires buzzing before it paused to a click.  The walls began to close in the moment his hand came into contact with the door, suddenly losing their strength before more cracks appeared.  He had to slam his body to the floor to avoid a bookshelf falling in his direction before dragging himself out.  His eyes snapped open when he felt a gust of wind blow in his face, causing him to shiver from the sudden change in temperature and weather.  </p><p>By the time he was sure he made it out of the collapsing building, his hands and knees were frozen from being deep in the snow.  Snow piled on barren trees.  The ground was decorated with powdered snow over sheets of ice and a couple green bushes that stood out against the winter wonderland.   It was minutes before Add stood up to check his dynamos for additional information.  Based on his calculations, a few years has passed…but so much had changed.</p><p>Had that many years had gone by?  Could his dynamos be wrong?  He couldn’t have been in the library for that long, right?    Could it be that the library time traveled while he was within its walls?  Time traveling sounded absurd, but he was beginning to lose sight of what was realistic and what wasn’t.   </p><p>He tucked his head down at the realization that he was no longer in his own timeline.  He wished to escape the place, didn’t he?  But what was he supposed to do now that he had the option to leave?   </p><p>Add glared at the icy environment outside with annoyance.  It would be a waste of time and resources if he stayed here forever because of something as simple as snow.  He needed to leave now if he wanted to avoid worse weather.  He could figure out what needed to be done to get back to his time later.  His database said there was a village nearby.  Perhaps the people there could be of some use to him.  </p><p>Add didn’t have much aside from what little he carried with him.  It was when he stepped out to face the harsh snow did reality begin to sink in.  He was free.  </p><p>He was ecstatic to feel a sensation besides books and cold metal.  Although he despised cold weather, he could always find a way to keep himself warm.  It wasn’t the first time he had to travel through the cold without proper clothing.  </p><p>For the first time in years, Add left the library behind and took his first breath of the real world.</p>
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